Ashley Gittens
Pause & Process: Healing Academic Trauma | Toronto, ON
Ashley Gittens is an educator and writer from Scarborough. She currently works for the Department of Imaginary Affairs and holds an HBA and B.Ed from The University of Toronto and an MEd from York University. Her work weaves together academia and art through the forms of facilitation, teaching, curriculum design and storytelling. As both educator and artist, Ashley is dedicated to creating tender and more playful communities informed by her own intersections as a Black and (dis)abled person. Ashley is committed to developing thoughtful and supportive resources that aid in equitable and empathetic practices in school systems and their counterparts.
About the Project
"Pause & Process: Healing Academic Trauma" is a two-week harm processing and reduction curriculum intended for use in school classrooms by teachers or appropriate faculty members. The intention of the curriculum is to address and process the institutional violence students may have faced in previous years as well as mitigate future harm. The curriculum aims to increase and improve feelings of safety, power and autonomy in students more at risk of experiencing institutional violence including Black, Indigenous, disabled and/or queer and trans students.